There is
a lot of talk, and a lot of good reasoning behind it, as to why denominations
no longer matter. This is exceptionally true in the muddle of main line
Protestantism where the actual differences between what occurs on a Sunday
morning at an Episcopal vs. Lutheran vs. Presbyterian vs. Methodist vs.
Moravian vs. [insert name here] service is rather moot to everyone but rubric
fiends like myself. If a person is looking for a liturgical worship on a Sunday
morning and a faith community to integrate with then there will be a long check
list of what they are searching for before what denominational name is in small
print on the sign.
In
praxis, that fancy word for practice, on Sunday morning every mainline
Protestant denomination is using a somewhat similar Morning Prayer and/or
Eucharist services with the only variances being hymnody and what generally
appears to be inconsequential issues of ordering.[1] Likewise most mainline
Protestant denominations are engaged in similar attempts at welcoming,
inclusive, community integrated, etc. parishes and worship communities. So what
comes about is similar to eating a delicious pastry along the streets of New
York, the fact it came out of a Japanese school of Pastry baking and not a
French is of little consequence to enjoying the pastry.
What a
person cares about is can they take all their stuff with God into this
community, and experience something Holy and blessed. The simple reality is that for the average
lay person the Venn Diagram of the mainline Protestant denominations is one of
humongous communal overlap when it comes to experience. Combine this with the
fact that all of them allow a high level of plurality of thought and
questioning, especially amongst the laity, and it is easy to see why
denominational allegiance is waning.
This
conflation of praxis, however, does not mean that the tradition, theology, and
history of individual denominations is suddenly moot. What has been lost is not
the importance of our traditions but those traditions being used as the coat of
arms for country clubs. People generally are not interested in being an
Episcopalian, Lutheran, etc. because those are "my people", "my
family", "my tradition", "my fast track to a raise and better
position at work". They are interested in being part of a community where
they can integrate and sort out their faith, spirituality, and practice.
So few
are interested in being a Methodist, but many people are discerning a spiritual
call that should be directed toward Methodism. Likewise Episcopalians now
generally roll their eyes at the idea of being the bastion of the Christian
Upperclass (a sure sign that in many ways we still are) but affirm very strong
spiritual calls to Anglicanism. I might very well find myself talking to a
seeker who will never live close to a Moravian church, will seek membership in
an Episcopal one, but for whom the works of Jan Huss will be essential works
for bringing to rest a personal conflict of faith.
So while
I fully recognize that Denominationalism is of ever falling consequence to the
new generation of Christian practitioners what I strongly suggest is that the
historical community residing within the traditions of the various
denominations is ever more of consequence. We must be able to not only connect
people with a vibrant community in the here and now but also to the vibrant
community of Christians gone before and help them identify possibly friends in
that great host.
What this
inherently means is that the saying “no one cares about
denominations any more” does not translate to “there is no longer any reason to be formed and know a specific faith
tradition”. Exactly what brings people
to a community is a longing to be formed and informed by that community and its
traditions. What “no one cares about
denominations any more” truly means is that “no one cares about the hubris and self righteousness of any
particular sect of Christianity”. Truth be told it is the sin
of the church of the past decades and century that anyone ever did.
[1] the ordering of the service, such as where the confession
is placed or where the Lord's Prayer is said, is consequential to the shape and
feel of a particular liturgy and its affects and effects but not in regards to
the discussion at hand.
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